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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Well, now that it seems like I have a chance at being an actual illustrator I want to tell you why I want to illustrate in the first place. Ever since I was a young'un I've loved looking through picture books. While perusing Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel I would spend a lot of time looking at the beautiful mounds of soil Virginia Lee Burton drew (and of course I would wonder along with Ramona Quimby, "how did Mike go to the bathroom?"). Dr. Seuss' illustration of the pet for girls who like to brush and comb made me want one of those pets too (even though I was very against any brushing and combing going on anywhere near my hair). In The Hundred Dresses I marveled at the way Louis Slobodkin could make illustrations with so few lines, but still perfectly capture the mood of the scene. All these books and more are the reason I want to be an illustrator. Children remember the pictures they see in books and their imaginations can better grasp the story being read to them. The books we read as kids mold who we are later on. For instance I remember a time where my younger brother couldn't get enough of the Pokey Little Puppy. Even now just like the Pokey Little Puppy, Paul Hugh has a way of not getting punished. My mother used to read a picture book called The Surprise Doll in which a little girl has a doll made for her. My mom spent many years of her adult life as a doll maker. So that is what I want to do, give children images they will remember and take with them through life. I want to use illustration to glorify God, but am not quite certain how yet, so I'll just start with the basics at school.